Visual Basic has been described as a visual interface design package to which the programmer attaches snippets of code. Although this definition has been contested by some, no one would contest that Visual Basic's interface design component--and therefore its forms and controls--are central to Visual Basic. To create a professional application, you need extensive knowledge of Visual Basic controls and their numerous properties, events, and methods.Visual Basic Controls in a Nutshellis the book that documents Visual Basic controls thoroughly.Visual Basic Controls in a Nutshellis divided into two sections. The first contains a detailed summary of Visual Basic Professional Edition's intrinsic and custom controls. Each chapter provides the following information about a control:

A general description of the control, including its usage and purpose

Control tasks--that is, the tasks that are typically executed when creating or managing a control

The most important properties that define the behavior and appearance of the control

The major events fired by a control and to which code can be assigned

In cases where their timing may be important, the order in which related multiple events are fired

The most important methods that are available for managing a control or accessing its functionality

The ways in which the control unexpectedly interacts with changes in its state or in that of the Visual Basic environment. Typically, these undocumented or little documented side effects give developers enormous difficulty.

The second section consists of separate alphabetical references to Visual Basic's properties, methods, and events. Along with providing basic documentation for each property, method, and event, the entries in this section contain a wealth of information not always available from the documentation, including:

Whether a property is available at design-time and/or run-time

The data type returned by a property or method

Visual Basic Controls in a Nutshellis an ideal book for Windows programmers who are looking for detailed and organized information on Visual Basic controls. This book is written by an experienced Visual Basic programmer and is filled with precisely the kind of information that his work--and that of any experienced VB programmer--constantly requires. Its depth and quality make it an indispensable addition to your Visual Basic library. With its companion volume,VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language, it serves to thoroughly document Microsoft Visual Basic.

Product Description

About the Author

Evan S. Dictor has developed software in a wide variety of languages on numerous platforms. He has used Visual Basic extensively for years, first as a prototyping tool and later as a full-time development tool. A Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer, today he develops and supports Visual Basic applications nationally as a contract programmer based out of southern Florida. In his spare time, Evan composes MIDI music and does woodworking.

Most helpful customer reviews

I had a little problem with controls while programming a complex application in VBA.It was a Listbox with checkbox in it and the a button should transfer all theselected checkbox to a treeview and so on and so forth...

while looking for in the internet I found a extracted page at O'REILLY thenI decide to buy the book. Great, book there is a lot controls with explanation, examples etc.Sure it will not cover new versions of VB, but it is still a great book.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)

Amazon.com:
13 reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

Great resource for what it isJuly 11 2000

By
Higher Ed Technologist
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback

To design and implement a large-scale VB project, I bought this book along with 'Pure Visual Basic' by Dan Fox. Nutshell proved to be very valuable for the design stage--determining what controls would be best suited for the demands of our application. It also was useful in the beginning of the implementation stage, as we got used to using those controls. Once coding was in full swing, the book sat on the shelf 90% of the time. We got MUCH more use out of Pure Visual Basic over the long haul.My conclusion--experienced VBers will not have much use for this book. Inexperienced ones will have a great deal of use of it for learning about standard controls/properties/methods, but they will still need another VB primer to help with coding fundamentals. Mildly experienced VBers or experienced programmers new to VB will find this tool useful as a reference in the beginning stages of a new VB project. In sum--anyone looking to understand the standard VB controls better will find this resource to be quite useful.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

An excellent and usable control referenceOct. 22 1999

By
A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback

This is the perfect companion to the splendid VB & VBA in a Nutshell volume. If you could only have one book on the subject you'd do well to have this or the Microsoft reference volume. If you (like me) value space and weight savings, buy this one (or both).

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

Great book....for the beginner.Sept. 29 1999

By
stevenlr@hotmail.com
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback

I purchased this book for its coverage of the winsock control. It satisfied that need...and hasn't been used since. If you are experienced in VB, you can survive without it. I will give Dictor credit for his down-to-earth explanations.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

Another GREAT book from O'Reilly...Dec 20 2000

By
C. Higgins
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback

This is one of the best VB reference books that I own. If you are new to VB it's a good resource to see how to use the many controls that VB has to offer. If you're a professional it is an outstanding reference book! This book goes into detail about all of the controls in a very organized manner listing the events, properties and methods in a way that I haven't seen before. A lot of the VB books out there today focus on the programmatic side of VB, leaving the details and design of the controls up to the reader. This is the perfect complement to these books. This book alone cannot teach the VB programming language but it is a perfect companion book to the many books out there that do. My advice, if you're interested in learning the details of the tons of VB controls is to buy this book. Definitely worth a buy!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

Thorough & AccurateNov. 2 2000

By
GREGORY S TOMKINS
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback

This is another example of O'Reilly's rule: the value of a computer book is usually inverse to its thickness (though this one is unusually thick, for them); and, it is unrelated to price (theirs are always on the cheap side). This book is relentlessly thorough, readable, and misses the cheap frills (ie. endless screen images) of 90% of other VB books. I own 17 VB books, but this one together with Lomax's book are the ones I actually look at more than all the others put together.